Gas Price Talk Radio

[robroy]

Yeah bozodog Its high in the UK butmuch of that is going to the government and it was about $3.50 20 years ago when I left so it isn't like over here where it has doubled in 2 years. Also most people over there drive smaller cars and have done so for many years.

BTW it's $2.06 here, I am so glad that I live 2 blocks from work, travel time 2 minutes at 4 mph. plus walking is healthy so they say.

[blim]

Hi All,

$2.13 here on Sunday, down from $2.20 on Thursday. Up and down like a yo-yo. Bozodog, your post surprised me! Usually the farther north you go, the more pricey it is.

I heard on the news that Grand Rapids, MI (about an hour from me) gives free bus rides on "Ozone Awareness Days", when the Ozone isn't at happy levels. Is that nice, or what??

Another age old gas saving tip is to get gas in the morning, when the temperatures are at their coolest, has to do with that "expand-contract-physics.....thing" And of course, slow acceleration and coasting before braking (sorry, Mac and Bozodog, had to say it!! )

Yeah, Mr. Brightside!! Like the harmony.

Liz

[bozodog]

And of course, slow acceleration and coasting before braking

Opps! That kinda take "EXPRESS" out of the equation don't it? I want all of you to remember that when you order something overnite or next day service. Cheers! *shifts into exprees mode and off to work in a hissing downpour.. I can hear my garden singin' in the rain.....

[macmarauder]

i'mmmm baaaack!

and i've got more tips too.

if your still using a mechanical fuel pump you can disconnect it and install an electric fuel pump. it's more efficient and reliable.

in the winter time the freezing cold robs you of your gas mileage. you can install what's called a block heater. it's like a hot pan for your car. most of them are just an electric heater block with magnets that goes on your oil pan. heating up your oil making the engine start way easier and get right to operating temperature faster. even new cars can benefit greatly from this.

one that i thought of last night is funny cause everybody forgets about it. your gas cap. hey don't laugh! think of it. especially now cars have a preasurized gas tank to make it easier on the fuel pump. well your gas cap seal can wear over time, little by little. since i was at my dads car lot last night helping him work on his race car i looked at all of the gas caps of cars that i know have presurized gas tanks. well guess what, they all hold preasure after running the car for a minute or so. but i noticed that once you turn the car off they imediatly start loosing preasure. it was little by little but it does mean that when you've parked the car for the night your fuel pump has to biuld up preasure again in the morning. so i dug through the box of large o-rings. i found one large enough to fit under the gas cap. it was a breathable coark not meant for air tight so i did a rubber on it. i slipped it on the gas cap, all the way up to the bottom of the lid. wayla now the tank holds air pressure much longer. i'll keep an eye on it and fortunately this particular gas cap has a pressure release valve so i don't have to worry about building up too much pressure.

here's a good tip for newer cars. make sure that your oxygen sensor is fully functioning properly. it's the biggest sensor for the computer to adjust your air fuel mixture. as it starts going out and they do, your car will take a nice gas mileage dive.

now this one is kinda controversial. i've had lots of people tell me before that instead of letting your car warm up just hope in and drive. on true fuel injected cars yes you'll be able to just take off and get better gas mileage than letting it sit and get up to operation temperature. but i do not recommend this. it puts lots of extra wear on your engine that doesn't have to be there. it also greatly increases the risk of damage. if you are going to do this i would greatly recommend a block heater in winter months. and if you've got an older carb car and your not just hopping a short distance than let it sit for 2 minutes. that engine gets better gas mileage at operating temperature.

Edited June 13, 2005 by macmarauder

[blim]

now this one is kinda controversial. i've had lots of people tell me before that instead of letting your car warm up just hope in and drive. on true fuel injected cars yes you'll be able to just take off and get better gas mileage than letting it sit and get up to operation temperature. but i do not recommend this. it puts lots of extra wear on your engine that doesn't have to be there. it also greatly increases the risk of damage. if you are going to do this i would greatly recommend a block heater in winter months. and if you've got an older carb car and your not just hopping a short distance than let it sit for 2 minutes. that engine gets better gas mileage at operating temperature.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You're right about that one, Macmarauder, and the KEY is 2-3 minutes, not 15 or 20!!! Although sometimes we cheat on that one when its so cold you step outside and get an icecream headache....but no more than 5 minutes (I set the timer)

Couple of years ago, I read somewhere that if your engine is going to be idling for more that 2 minutes, like at a drive thru, turn the car off. Even if you wear out your starter, the gas costs offsets the cost of the starter. Very recently, when the gas prices went sky high, I read that they re-calculated the cost of a starter vs gas and the time was lowered to one minute. Me, unless I go to the bank, where they give my dog a cooky, and the tellers love to talk to her, I walk in and get it to go! Its quicker, anyways.

These two tips also cut down on the pollution and carbon monoxide--I always pity the folks who work at drive up windows, wondering how much garbage they inhale everyday, because the cars are in "close quarters" and its smelly, and am really frightened for the pregnant women working these windows, what are they doing to their babies?

And good for you, Mac, for your latest invention with the gas cap, I expect to see it on the garage shelves.....

Bozodog, you got rain??? Where's mine???

Liz

[Vile_DR]

I wish I could have caught this thread in the beginning, there are some very interestings things pointed out, and with the tips from MAC about the big liter cars and such, we could have turned this thread into "Miles for Cheap".

Other things, small things, about getting your gas mileage up there is air pressure in the tires...make sure they are at the rating they are supposed to be at and nothing less and nothing more. Although with more, less of the tire is touching, but you loose stability and control in the tires with more danger to pop or lose control of the car.

Regular injector cleaner through the fuel injectors when you fill of your car. Just pour a container of STP cleaner (or your brand of choice) and fill of your tank...Don't do it the other way because it will take longer to remove the air pockets and longer to clean your injectors...

Air filters are up there too...

Each one of these can and could actually add mileage to your car. Like MAC was mentioning, pumps, lines, and feeds where the feel leaves the tank and enters the engine need regular checking to make sure carbon deposits from the gas are stuck causing back up or extra burnoff...

[tenmm]

As has all ready been pointed out there are several ways to get better fuel mileage.

My tip is This man.

(PS change or have changed the fuel filter,one of the most forgotten things)

Mr. Banks has done more to squeeze more mileage out of cars and trucks than anyone I have heard of.

Summer tips.

Hoses and belt on your cars motor,check them or have then checked,replace them as needed(you will save a long hot wait for a tow truck).

Coolant replace to normal level if low,have it replaced every couple of years or as indicated in your owners manual.

Above all drive safe,get some sleep and enjoy the ride.

[bozodog]

Dang! Did we get rain!!!! Hissed down for maybe 6-8 hours. Had a "low lying" flood watch and saw a lot of deep puddles on low spots on streets. (Thank you Arlene ) Boy did my garden love it, but the Brit was cursing cause it makes the grass grow. HA! 82F now at 17:50 humidity very high, I'm breaking out in a sweat reaching for a cold Coors.....

[macmarauder]

hello hello! my sweaty friends

i just got back from grocery run and i thought up a few more during the ride.

i thought up some more freebies. well free if you can do the work yourself. first off is that it accured to me as i tried to remember what else i've done to my bronco over the years. i added an aftermarket electronic overdrive, which i've already said that if you don't have over drive on an automatic trany then add one. it's adjustable! not all of them but the one that i got i picked just for that reason. i wanted to tell it to shift into overdrive sooner than normal. and WALA! a little better go for the money.

then that got me thinking what else did i adjust long long ago on this thing. you can adjust the shift points on some tranies. the shift point is at what RMP the transmission will to the next gear, depending on how much gas your giving it at the time. most of the time you want it to drag the gear out as long as the engine will allow since this adjustment is usually done for racing perpose. but if you turned it the opposit way you will get a softer lower RPM shift. meaning less gas is used when shifting. the higher amount of low end torc the lower RPM you can shift at. this is one where an engine like mine has an advantage over a much smaller engine. like a honda, it's a all high end torc engine.

well sorry that's it for the freebies. but the next one is a very good one.

sorry post has been interrupted by nagging ex girlfriend. check back later.

Edited June 13, 2005 by macmarauder

[blim]

Dang! Did we get rain!!!! Hissed down for maybe 6-8 hours. Had a "low lying" flood watch and saw a lot of deep puddles on low spots on streets. (Thank you Arlene  )  Boy did my garden love it, but the Brit was cursing cause it makes the grass grow. HA!  82F now at 17:50 humidity very high, I'm breaking out in a sweat reaching for a cold Coors.....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Bah! We got nothing!!! You got 2.6 inches according to the news!!! Glad you got some much needed rain, anyways At least we have that lake breeze to keep the stickies down.

Liz

[bozodog]

This is a great weather program that sits in your task bar. No ads or spyware.

Weather Pulse

I have used it for a couple of years and I really love it for tracking the storms. You can switch to other towns or the whole US or even other countries.

[Bubba Bob]

This is a great weather program that sits in your task bar. No ads or spyware.

Weather Pulse

I have used it for a couple of years and I really love it for tracking the storms. You can switch to other towns or the whole US or even other countries.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Nice, ill switch to that.! I liked weatherbug, but now they force you to install My WEb Search also

[Vile_DR]

sorry post has been interrupted by nagging ex girlfriend. check back later.   

Can't be that bad if she is still around like the Bronco right Mac?...hehehehe

[tenmm]

BAhhhhh.

Weatherbug

Everyone I have ever seen has more spyware than AOheLl.

Sorry for the rant but I hate those things,have always had better luck looking out the window

[rv56]

BAhhhhh.

Weatherbug    

Everyone I have ever seen has more spyware than AOheLl.  

Sorry for the rant but I hate those things,have always had better luck looking out the window  

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm with ya on that tenmm..... .

I mean how often is a 5 day forecast that accurate.

Yep....I do the same. What you see out the window is what you got.....

Oh...and gas today is still at 88.9 cents per litre.... (4.5L = 1 Gallon)

[robroy]

thanks for the link to weather pulse, nice little program

Calling for more t-storms tonite here, had one good one last nite. I was driving in it had to pull over for five minutes as I couldn't see.

Gas prices just dropped $0.05 today although I expect they will be back up by the weekend

[macmarauder]

well now that the ex is all packed and on her way back to california and out of my hair for good i can get back to work.

anyways as i was going to say before the biggest and best tip yet is for when your buying a new car or truck. on most non US vehicles there isn't that many options available but on US vehicles it's a whole other story. in i think we get way too many options. so take advantage of it and order a vehicle built for your exact purpose. for example one of my fathers friends has a about 98 Ford Expedition or so and he drives cross country towing his race car. so when he bought it brand new he didn't just pick one of the lot. he filled out a custom order form with the exact options he wanted after doing a little research. in that year there was 4 different versions of the 5.8L engine which most people didn't even know at all. he also pick the exact gear ratio for the rear end. he looses alot of his power at lower speeds but he gets a ton of power at high speeds. since he spends almost all his time on the highway it's a perfect fit. he uses pretty much every trick in the book for better gas mileage and gets about 20 MPG with his trailer on the back on the highway and a full load of people and luggage.

so the tip is when buying or in my case building a new car or truck figure out exactly what your true needs are and make it just for those needs before just buying one that looks cool. unless that's what really matters to you.

OK here's another tip. bozodog you might want to consider this one. have you ever seen those big wing things on Big Rigs (18 wheelers and such). well those things actually work. now your honda or toyota won't even carry one of those but they will fit large cargo vans and full size trucks. the way that they work is on the same principles as a wing flowing air above and below at different speeds producing lift. hence at highway speeds making your truck seem lighter for better gas mileage. ohhh and those stupid little ones you see on smaller cars. 90% of the time they aren't designed to gas mileage at all. they are meant to for the exact opposite, forcing air down on the car for better traction / handling.

boy ohhh boy that was alot of typing. see ya later with more tips as i think of them

[blim]

Gas up to $2.26 for the weekend, I suppose. The Community Art Fair is Saturday and Sunday.

Ok, a question for the Car Experts!! Son's Saturn will probably be going into the Shop on Monday. He was driving home from school on the highway, kept slowing down, losing power, I guess, he "floored" the gas pedal, nothing, then, wham, vrrrroom. Also was "chugging" and "loud" (although I didn't hear him pull in the driveway) and it stalled at the town stoplight (started right up, though).

Simple Gas Filter or Fuel Injector thing?? Or something else? If its a Fuel Injector, seeing as it has 190,000 miles on it and we bought it for $2500 in 2000 and its a 1995, is it worth replacing the fuel injector? Aside from using oil, it has been cheap for repairs, the only expensive things it "needed" (or so they told me) was a catalytic converter and muffler, and a power window motor (THAT was pricey!!) Whaddya think???

Thanks,

Liz

[macmarauder]

boy there's alot of things it could be. it could be that it was low on gas and it just happened to suck up a chunk of gunk from the bottom of the tank. Or the what's typical of those things, the O2 sensor going bad. what does it do now? it almost sounds like vapor locking but if it had that problem you would've seen this before. i would really have to hear it to be more specific. as far as value goes, it's not worth much. besides being not a very good year for saturns, it's well, not exactly a high end car. you did exactly right, just use it. you got your money worth out of it.

now to wait on what the mechanic says.

[tenmm]

I would look at the gas filter first,what you posted is a prime example of what happens when the filter is plugged.

Those are cheap and easy to replace and should IMHO be done once a year.

(they are easy to replace)

If that is not the problem then let the shop have it.

[Bubba Bob]

Sounds like back pressure in exhaust system to me. Maybe a bad catalytic convertor or muffler.

EDIT: How long ago was it when you had both of those replaced?

[blim]

Wow!! Thanks all for your ideas!!

Tenmm, I'm leaning towards a fuel filter (well, hoping anyways--they're cheap) As one of my old clunkers did the same exact thing and it was the fuel filter.

Mac, your idea had me going as he has a habit of driving on "E", which drives me nuts--I asked him and he filled his tank the day it started acting up (which makes me wonder if its bad gas, too, but I don't think that occurs nowadays)

Bubbabob, it would be great if it was the catalytic converter and muffler as that's still under warranty!!!!

Can't report on gas prices today, haven't been to town recently

Liz

[robroy]

could be fuel pump, injector systems with the electric fuel pump in gas tank give the same syptoms. I just had to replace one 5 weeks ago.

[blim]

Well, we brought the Saturn home from the shop today. It ended up being...grabs invoice...#3 Cylinder (hubby said that's a piston) lost its compression and would cost $500-$2000 to fix. Ha!. Soooo, Son and Hubby get to start car shopping. Thank God Son is a mizer and has almost $4000 saved up, plenty enough for a kidcar, and also Hubby loves to car shop, although he's so unmechanical and a salesman's dream (he won't dicker) he never gets a good deal unless he brings me along. My line is "lower your price $400 and we'll pay you cash". Works every time. The carplace we bought the saturn from originally was advertizing for "fixer-uppers" to purchase for repair and resale, soooo, maybe I can get a better deal offering the Saturn for his repairing pleasure....

Sure wish it was one of the diagnosises mentioned, but as Macmarauder said, it did serve us well!!

Gas prices $2.29, but newspaper said at $60 barrel, expect it to go up to $3.00 by 2006 Our paper's frequently wrong, l hope its wrong again!!

Liz

[macmarauder]

sorry to hear that the saturn is on it's 3rd leg. just try to keep son from too fast of a car.